NEW YORK, Oct 27 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Monday slashed a $9 billion punitive damage award against Takeda Pharmaceutical Co and Eli Lilly & Co over their Actos diabetes drug to $36.8 million, according to a court filing.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Doherty in Louisiana court granted a motion from the drugmakers to reduce the $9 billion in combined punitive damages they were hit with earlier this year. The verdict, which also included $1.475 million in compensatory damages, came in the first federal trial among more than 2,900 lawsuits accusing them of failing to warn users that Actos could raise users' risk for bladder cancer.

(Reporting by Jessica Dye; Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Chris Reese)